feather

one of the many soft light parts covering a bird’s bodya peacock feathera feather pillow (= one containing feathers)See related entries:Parts of animals

Word OriginOld Englishfether, of Germanic origin; related to Dutchveer and GermanFeder, from an Indo-European root shared by Sanskritpatra

‘wing’

, Latinpenna

‘feather’

, and Greekpteron, pterux

‘wing’

.Extra examplesI had to pluck the dead hen’s feathers.Its feathers were ruffled by the chill breeze.The chicks have grown their adult feathers.The owl fluffed out its feathers.a fledgling with new flight feathersa swan preening its feathersplucking the dead hen’s feathersthe downy feathers on the duck’s breastIdioms